


Little Things

by tjmystic



Series: Birthday Fics [14]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 19:25:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjmystic/pseuds/tjmystic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle and Rumple are back in fairytale land</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Things

Little Things  
Birthday Fic #14

Rating: PG

ronandhermy prompted: Belle and Rumple are back in fairytale land, how does the rest of the land view them?; ibode prompted: Dark Castle. Rumplestiltskin is a litterbug and it infuriates Belle (the scene where Rumple threw the vial near the Town Line begs for this :D)

Author’s Note: Hey guys! Sorry that this one is so short - I kinda got sick of writing the super-long fics after “You Were Mine” and “Extracurricular” (which were awesome and fun to write, but super draining). So, I picked this one as sort of a wind-down ficlet (and, to be honest, kind of a rant). Hope you don’t mind :)

 

Belle thought that she would be happy to be back in the Enchanted Forest. It was where she grew up, after all, and, more importantly, where she found her true love. 

But with each successive day in the old realm, she began to realize that she wasn’t happy at all.

She understood that it wouldn’t be easy, starting all over again in a world that had literally been torn apart. There would be mountains of work to do, endless problems to fix, numerous people to help. 

She just didn’t realize how hard it would be for her and Rumplestiltskin to actually do any of that. After everything he’d done for them, all the ways he’d changed to become a better man (hell, a man at all), all but the Charming family treated them him - and Belle, to an extent - like a pariah. She couldn’t figure out why for the life of her, especially if they only treated him that way out of habit. Habits could be changed - Rumplestiltskin was living proof of that. But to them, he was still a coward. To them, he was a monster.

She didn’t care about that, of course. Let them talk - she knew the truth. She knew how he’d fought to change for her, his son, and his grandson. She knew how hard he’d fought against Cora and Hook and that wicked Blue Fairy until all three were rid from the universe. She knew that he was brave. And, most importantly, she knew how she felt about her Rumplestiltskin, she knew where he was when the battlelines were drawn. That was all that mattered. 

Even if he was a complete litter bug. 

It was a silly thing to be upset with him for, of course, but, in the long run, she figured it was a good thing to keep him grounded with. Much better than calling him a coward without reason, anyway. She’d all but forgotten about his bad habit in Storybrooke (he kept to his shop so much that he didn’t have time for clutter in his house… though, Belle was beginning to wonder why she hadn’t thought of it with the state his backroom was in), but it all came rushing back within their first few days of life in the castle.

It was just little things at first - socks, leather gloves, cuff-links, and the like. Little by little, though, he started adding things like potion bottles, threadbare tunics, odd implements that she honestly didn’t want to know the purpose of, and even her jewelry. 

But it didn’t come to a head until one morning when she found their entire floor - not just a corner or two - overcome with the contents of their dresser. She might not have been so upset, but Ruby (Red, whatever she went by now) had dropped by earlier that morning to try and “rescue” her. So, as it was, it was already a relatively awful day.

Belle yelled at him, took out every ounce of frustration she’d felt since returning to the Dark Castle, and cried herself hoarse until he gave in and wrapped himself around her. He tried to send her away again, tried to give her an out even as his own eyes - so much older now than she’d realized - welled up with tears. Even in her frustration, though, she refused to consider leaving him. Especially when she realized that, in his hands, he clutched a worn baby’s jumper, apparently the item he’d been rifling for all along. 

When he held her later that night, both of them sweaty and warm and undeniably human in each other’s arms, she thought he might have had a reason to look for that jumper, after all.

Belle couldn’t say she was happy anymore. No - even with everyone else’s hatred, the lack of understanding from anyone else in the world, she’d have say she was joyful, and loved, and, for once, entirely whole.


End file.
